Padres Weigh Trading Closer Mason Miller to Dump Xander Bogaerts' Contract

The San Diego Padres have one of the best closers in baseball. They might trade him anyway, just to unload a bad contract. According to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, citing anonymous sources, Padres officials have not ruled out including Mason Miller in a package deal aimed at getting off Xander Bogaerts' contract. Acee describes it as a scenario team officials are actively weighing. Note: Mason Miller is currently the closer for the Athletics organization, not the San Diego Padres. Readers should treat this claim with skepticism pending further verification. Bogaerts is the opposite problem. The 33-year-old signed an 11-year, $280 million deal with San Diego before the 2023 season. He's hitting just .224 with nine home runs and a .645 OPS this year, per the New York Post. The Padres still owe him roughly $175 million over the next seven years, at $25.4 million per season, according to SI. Acee reports it's considered a "foregone conclusion" in San Diego that the team will eventually find a way to move off some of that money. The problem is nobody wants to volunteer to eat $175 million for a declining infielder. That's a brutal trade-off for a team that says it wants to keep competing. But statements are cheap two weeks before a trade deadline, and the calculus changes fast when ownership is staring down $175 million in dead money. Where San Diego stands in the standings The Padres are 48-49 after a 7-6 loss to the Royals on Friday, sitting 3.5 games out of the final NL Wild Card spot, according to the New York Post. That's close enough to matter, far enough to make selling a real option. FanSided's trade deadline roundup captured the broader dynamic well: with the standings jammed up and few teams willing to admit they're out of it, sellers could have real leverage this July, since scarcity works in their favor. New ownership adds a wrinkle SI notes the Padres are also navigating a new ownership group taking over the franchise, adding fresh uncertainty to how the team handles a payroll already loaded with long-term deals. A new front office inheriting the Bogaerts contract has every incentive to find an exit, even an expensive one. No deal has been reported as finalized, and Acee's reporting reflects internal deliberation, not an agreement in place. The Padres have until Aug. 3 to decide whether they're buying, selling, or making a trade to address the Bogaerts contract situation.